U.S. Marshals arresting people for outstanding student debt

U.S. Marshals are arresting people for outstanding student debt in Houston, Texas, and you won’t believe how far back some of those loans stretch, nor how little it might take to have armed federal marshals show up at your door to arrest you.

Local resident Paul Aker claims he was arrested for a mere $1,500 outstanding federal loan he took out nearly 30 years ago, in 1987, just last week. Acker told Fox 26 that armed U.S. Marshals arrested him at his home out of the blue and hauled him to federal court, where he was forced to sign a payment plan for the three-decades-old loan.

According to Congressman Gene Green, the arrests are a result of the federal government outsourcing to private debt collectors for recovering over-due and delinquent student loan payments. Green says attorneys and debt collectors are now collaborating to secure federal court judgments, then taking the extra step by requesting that U.S. Marshals apprehend folks who are unable or not willing to pay their student loans. And those who can’t pay face potential time in jail.

Fox 26 also reports that according to a “reliable source with the US Marshal in Houston, Aker isn’t the first and won’t be the last.”

As many as 1,500 warrants have been issued so far for people behind on their student loan payments, and there is little doubt the number will keep on climbing. Meanwhile, America is in the midst of what is being referred to as the “student debt crisis.” Late payments are becoming more common, tuition rates keep falling, public funding for education never seems to be a priority, and wages are as stagnant as they have been for the past 30 years.

Clearly, the calls for a common-sense approach to the generation-crushing debt are falling on deaf ears, as the powers-that-be seem content on doubling down on the issue.